Two
by dancedude09
Summary: Two is a very significant number in the lives of Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley.
1. Chapter 1

**Two**

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Victoire was two hours old when Teddy first laid eyes on her.

The day seemed far from ordinary to Teddy Lupin. Teddy noticed when his Gran gave him over to Harry for the day that she didn't linger when she kissed his forehead like she normally might, and he noticed that the Burrow wasn't nearly as rambunctious as it normal would be. He noticed that everyone was wearing dark colors, and he noticed that even George's smile seemed to lack its usual bright hue.

Teddy found it odd that they sat on a great lawn and listened to an old man talk. It was rather boring, he thought. Often, he tried to squirm away from Harry, especially when he saw his Gran sitting in the front row. He thought she would surely want to enjoy the sunny day with him, but Harry forced him to stay put.

He didn't like that very much.

Apparently, Fleur didn't like it much either. She began squirming in her seat, too. Teddy figured that Molly Weasley must have seen because she came barreling down the row of chairs toward her. He cringed, thinking that Fleur would be getting a scolding for bad behavior. Instead, she instructed Bill Weasley to hold onto her other arm and, together, they led Fleur delicately away. Then, suddenly, all three of them were gone.

Immediately after, the Weasley's–who took up an entire row on the lawn–began packing up and Apparating away in a rush. Teddy was supremely surprised by the abrupt departure as well as overwhelmingly pleased. He grasped Harry with zeal when Harry reported that they would be traveling the same route that they had taken to get from the Burrow to the lawn.

It didn't take long before they reached the small pub in Hogsmeade. They used the fireplace which spit them back out into the Burrow's kitchen. It smelled like food, and Teddy was delighted to see Hermione changed into a purple dress and making bacon.

"Hermione?" He cocked his head to one side. "Can I have bacon?"

She giggled, poking his stomach as she passed. "Who do you think I was making this for? Harry? Ron?" He shrugged. "Oh, please. You know you're my favorite little guy." She pulled him into her and pressed kisses all over him.

He laughed. "You're silly, Hermione." He stumbled over to the table, pulled out a heavy chair and waited, drumming his fingers on the table. Seconds later, he was startled to hear a strangled scream from upstairs.

Harry and Hermione laughed at his small jump. Harry patted his head. "'S'okay, Teddy. It's just Fleur. She's having the baby."

Teddy frowned. He thought she could at least keep the noise down if she had to have the stupid thing. The new baby was all anyone had talked about for quite sometime now, and Teddy Lupin was sick of it. In his opinion, it wasn't that exciting to have a new baby.

He ate his bacon and tried to ignore the screams from upstairs. Then, Harry, Ron and Hermione took him to Diagon Alley to buy the baby a present, not that he really wanted to. Still, he picked out a nice book about lions from Flourish and Blott's that he thought was fascinating. They also stopped into George Weasley's shop to tell the salesclerk to close the shop for the day.

The screaming had stopped when they returned to the Burrow. Teddy was thankful for that, but seeing Molly Weasley sobbing into Arthur's arms was not favorable either. She grasped Harry, Hermione and Ron into an airtight hung instantly. "It's a girl! Oh, she's so beautiful. Once we have her and Fleur cleaned up, you three must bring Teddy into see her!" Then she knelt down to Teddy's level and hugged him as well. "Teddy you'll have the most beautiful playmate now! She's such a charming baby."

Teddy wasn't sure what she meant, but he waited with Harry for their turn to go see the new baby. They played with matching cards, and Ron lost miserably. Then Ron challenged Harry to Wizard's Chess just to, as Harry said, prove his worth. The game was half-finished when Bill came down, with a beaming smile on his face, and told them to come up and meet the newest Weasley.

Harry carried Teddy up the stairs to Bill's room and set him on his feet, nudging him through the open door. He felt uncharacteristically nervous in the quiet room with all of the adults. He stayed close to Harry.

Fleur caught his eye from the bed and smiled at him. "Teddy, come closer so you can meet 'er." She instructed in the most soothing tone that Teddy had ever heard. He shuffled towards the bed, pulling slightly on the bedspread so that he could stand on his toes to peek into the bundle of blankets that Fleur held in her arms.

His mouth fell open, and his small eyes grew big. His hair turned a shocking shade of white in his shock then it changed to match the gorgeous blonde hair color of the new baby. The baby was gorgeous.

Bill chuckled, "Teddy, this is Victoire."

Teddy never took his eyes off of her. He thought she was the most beautiful thing that he ever saw with her small features, her downy blonde hair, her perfectly pink lips and cheeks, and her bright blue eyes. She blinked at him, and he leaned closer to her.

"Teddy picked out a gift for her," Harry said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Teddy, do you want to give it to her?"

Teddy ignored Harry, so chuckling, Harry handed the bag to Bill who unwrapped the book. He laughed again, and rubbed Teddy's head. "Thanks, Teddy. I'm sure she'll love it."

Teddy looked away from Victoire for the first time. He was careful to keep his voice quiet. "It's about lions! Like G'ffindor!"

"I can see that," Bill winked at him. "Obviously, we'll have to start telling her which house she wants earlier, won't we, Teddy?"

Teddy nodded, grinning, and stared back at Victoire.

Later, when Harry took him home, Teddy promised Harry that he would look after Victoire. "She's so small, Harry. She needs me." He murmured as Harry pulled his pajamas over his head. "She can't even talk, Harry. Don't worry, though–." He started as he climbed into his bed. "'cause I'm gonna help her. I will do that forever, Harry. You'll see."

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I don't own anything; this was just good fun. Please comment.


	2. Chapter 2

"_It's over."_

You held a black umbrella in one hand and a _Prophet_ in the other as you said the words. Your tan raincoat, the one with the assorted black buttons, was longer than your jumper and was tied tightly around your waist. Your black satin headband kept back the blonde hair that shimmered still, despite the rain, and the boots you wore were new, black as well.

Congratulations, you looked bloody amazing for the worst day of my life.

I stood across from you, in a suit, with my suit coat hanging limply from my left hand. The rain soaked into my shirt, dripped off the cuffs and collar. It dripped from the ends of my hair, from my nose, from my ears, and from my mouth, hanging open in disbelief.

There were meters of distance between us, probably the most distance ever. I had tried to close the gap, but your boots took a half-step backwards, and I got the hint.

Automobiles, buses, shipping trucks, bikes, pedestrians zoomed by us as we stood on the cobble stone pathway. A myriad of sounds must have been made but all I could hear were those words that fell from your gorgeous red lips.

Did you mean to break me like you did? Tactfulness was never your strong suit. Sometimes, I think you did it from fear. Other times, I think you were just being a bitch.

I don't often wonder about your life now. I've heard glimpses, of course. Lily, after all, is not known for her secrecy, and James frequently mentions you, just to annoy me, I think. And I've seen your name or picture in the _Prophet_, in articles just like the one published on that fateful day. And sometimes, from across the room at a gala or as the elevator door opens on your floor at the Ministry, I'll catch a swish of your hair or perchance, a smile.

It's awful every time.

Maybe, your life is better off without me. Maybe, leaving was your way of escaping what you thought was a stifling relationship. Maybe, you had wanted something new, something different. Probably, I'll never get answers because you left it at those two words.

Those two words were all it took for you to ruin nineteen years of friendship. Those two words made me sick for weeks and cry for days. Those two words made me stop coming to Weasly dinners, stop talking to most of them completely. Those two words made me wish we had never broken Harry's broomstick together, had never gotten lost in Hogsmeade, had never eaten Hagrid's stone cakes just to please him, had never kissed, had never made love, had never been at all.

The day you were born I vowed to protect you, and you ruined all of it with two words.


	3. Chapter 3

"Happy Birthday."

I turned sharply. My blonde hair, the hair that made me Galleons in modeling contracts that summer I turned seventeen, the summer we fell in love, twirled in the air.

I blinked, mouth gaping. It was the first two words you had said to me in three years. Granted, we hadn't had many opportunities to speak, I made sure of that, as, I assumed, you did, too. And maybe they were sarcastic and mocking, but it was a start, I supposed.

You lifted your eyebrows, as if demanding politely, what I was doing there. Or perhaps, not politely. Further inspection caused me to determine your look uncaring, irritated, demanding not upon my reasons, but, instead, my audacity.

I lifted my chin in defiance. I had just as many reasons to visit your parents' graves as you did. Well, perhaps not _quite_ as many, but, still, I had every right.

"Thank you, Theodore."

Your bottom lip twitched; your eyes lost their malice. I saw your shoulders sag, as if you gave up on the front of derision.

You brushed past me and laid the flowers you brought upon your mother's grave. Your fingers brushed hers, then your father's headstones in a moment of silence. Then, it was over.

You flashed me a sad smile, and you were walking away, towards that stupid kissing gate that didn't even squeak when you entered.

And suddenly, I knew I still loved you, which, admittedly, was a ludicrous notion. _I_ broke it off with _you._ I'm sure you remembered that as clearly as I knew.

"Theodore?" I called in my most authoritative voice at the time, which wasn't very authoritative at all. In fact, it sounded meeker than that time I was six and asked you to kiss me. The thought struck me, and the words flew from my mouth. I swore I had no control over them.

"Kiss me?"

A moment passed, the breath I had used to ask the simple, but heavy question seemed to spread across the graveyard and settle a stillness that made my hands clammy. Then, your lips were on mine. It took you two steps to reach me.


End file.
